If you are suffering from adhesion-related chronic pain, you need to do whatever it takes in order to receive the kind of care you want/need from doctors. Yes, we have a controversial disorder! Yes, lots of people don't take us seriously! But that's no reason to despair! There are many books and articles that give advice on what to do when seeking the help of a doctor. They usually say things like: * Become an informed medical consumer.* Write down all of the questions you want to ask your doctor.* Make a list of all of your medications. Adhesion related disorder is poorly understood... and debated even among doctors. In fact, many of us have been treated disgracefully by them. Some doctors have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help us; but, unfortunately, there aren't enough of them!!Be sure to have a thorough physical in order to rule out other medical conditions. You don't want to push a doctor into diagnosing you as having adhesion related disorder - while leaving a serious and/or treatable condition undiagnosed.
Tips on how to deal with doctors and the medical system:
1. First, you must do your homework!! It is unfair and unjust that you should have to do this when you are ill; but you will deeply regret it if you don't. Begin by educating yourself thoroughly about your illness. You can't rely on your doctor to know about adhesion related disorder!!
2. Next, you must take your doctor visits quite seriously. It's natural for people, who are very ill, to want to go to the doctor and place all their problems in his/her hands. We all want to say: "Here, make it all better now." Unfortunately, we adhesion-sufferers often can't do this. We may be seeking the help of a doctor, who doesn't specialize in treating adhesion related disorder... a doctor, who doesn't know a whole lot about ARD.
3. No doctor can possibly keep up with all of the new medical information that's coming out!!
4. Doctors are usually overworked and under a lot of stress. The office hours in which you see him/her are not the only hours the doctor is working. Doctors see hospital patients before and after office hours. They spend hours filling out forms for patients, who are seeking disability. Doctors are awakened in the middle of the night with emergency calls.
5. Doctors are very concerned about committing malpractice... and about the good opinion of their colleagues. "First, do no harm" is drummed into doctors from the day they first enter medical school. As a result, they tend to be conservative in their judgements - and are cautious when evaluating new medical information. This can be frustrating for adhesion-sufferers... especially when all of our diagnostic tests are normal or negative for abnormal pathology. But remember, we want our doctors to be careful and conscientious, so we should be willing to cooperate with them.
6. The more work you do for the doctor, the more likely you are to get the care you need. You need to present your medical history and symptoms clearly and concisely. If and when you bring information you've printed out from the Internet about ARD, you need to include the Url (website) so doctors can see your - and their - opinions are backed up by the medical profession.
7. You can't count on doctors being completely free of pre-judgements. It is important to get past whatever preconceptions a doctor may have... and get him/her dealing with your real medical concerns.
8. If you need to seek disability, how your doctor views you and your illness can make a difference!!
9. Beware!!!! There are Doctors out there willing to profit from your pain. They will take advantage of desparate, suffering ARD patients just to make a buck!
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